Christmas on the Plantations

and New Orleans for the Holidays

5 Days | Dec 5-9 or Dec 12-16, 2019

Starting At $Flexible Pricing

Bonfires on the Levee are a Southern Louisiana tradition, that depending on who you speak to, either lights the way for Papa Noel (Cajun Santa figure). Or it is to help guide the faithful Catholics to Midnight Mass on Christmas. Whatever the belief, it is carried forward to this day.

Here is a small video clip of The Bonfires in the River Parishes of Louisiana.

U S Tours Flexible Pricing:

What do you want, U S Tours will be happy to structure tour prices to match your needs. Just let us know what you want.

Itinerary

Day 1 – Thursday – Arrive New Orleans – Court of Two Sisters Dinner
On arrival in New Orleans you check into a French Quarter. You will be centrally located in the heart of this historic district filled with music that overflows from restaurants and night club, lined with shops and boutiques. Also known as Vieux Carre this area is the spirit and soul of New Orleans.

Tonight you have a Welcome Dinner at the famous Court of Two Sisters. Then take your time walking back to our hotel and enjoy Royal or Bourbon Street. (D)

This morning after breakfast at your hotel, you enjoy a tour of the “Big Easy.” Highlights of our tour include: The French Quarter, The French Market, City Park, St. Louis Cemetery, and the Garden District. Lunch will be on-your-own before we head to the WWII Museum. This museum is the third most visited museum in the world! Relive the amazing men and women who helped America lead the invasion all over the globe. Included in our tour will be the award winning movie “No Boundaries” produced & directed by Tom Hanks.

We’ll say farewell to New Orleans in style with a dinner cruise and jazz aboard the steamboat Creole Queen on the Mississippi tonight. (B/D Cruise)

Day 3 – Saturday – Great River Road Tour – Laura Plantation – Nottoway Plantation
Today is journey along the Great River Road, focused on plantation history, antiques, and architecture. Learn about Creoles, pirates, slaves, and voodoo. You will pass plantation with names such as Evergreen, Whitney and St Joseph before visiting Laura, a Creole plantation whose charm is as rich as her history. The tour of the manor house gardens and slave quarters is accompanied by the compelling narration that has earned Laura a “Louisiana’s Top Travel Attraction” designation. This Plantation was the only one ever owned by a Black Creole Woman. It is also the site where the children’s book Briar Rabbit was written.

Then you visit one of the treasures of the Old South, the magnificent antebellum Oak Alley mansion. It has 28 three hundred year- old oak trees lining the driveway and is an exquisite reminder of an bygone era. Ending the day you drive onto the grounds of the largest, most opulent plantation house in the South. The Nottoway Plantation is your home for the next two nights your group will have historically appointed them rooms in The Carriage House. After check-in tonight there will be period entertainment and a gourmet dinner in the Nottoway Mansions White Ballroom. (B/D)

Day 4 – Sunday – Nottoway Christmas Markets – Houmas House Plantation- Bonfires on the Levee
After a plantation breakfast we’ll meet our period guides for a walking tour of the Grand House and grounds of Nottoway. This afternoon you’ll want to have your wallet or purse with you for the “Plantation Christmas Markets” at Nottoway! Walk amongst the many local crafts vendors and find that perfect gift for that someone back home.

Late afternoon we’ll depart for Houmas House Plantation. After touring the main house and beautiful gardens, we’ll enjoy a farewell dinner at Houmas House’s award winning restaurant.

Once we return to Nottoway Plantation we’ll gather on the porch where we’ll toast our final night in Louisiana and Papa Noel “The Cajun Santa Claus” before watching the lighting of the “Bonfire on the Levees” followed by a farewell fireworks display! The tradition is, depending on who you speak to, either to light the way for Papa Noel (cajun french Santa figure). Others say it is to help guide ships on the river, during December fog in Louisiana. Others say it is to help guide the faithful Catholics to Midnight Mass on Christmas. Whatever the belief, it is still a strong tradition. (B/D)